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air stands for adobe integrated runtime, which is adobe's way of saying it's a "runtime environment." all you need to know is that once you install airand it does require installation, just like a regular downloaded applicationyou then get your pick of developer-created apps that run on top of it. many of them replicate what you'd do in a browser-based web app, and some feature an improvement to the interface; not all air apps are simple widgety mimics. there are a lot of originals, including games. air is currently running on windows and macs, with a beta version recently announced for linux.

adobe air marketplace is the place to download air apps. inside you'll find 243 (as of this writing) apps, some more useful than others. search for your favorite web app and you'll likely find something of interest. for example, gmdesk slaps a number of google servicegmail, docs, calendar, maps, and picasa web albumsinto its interface, without changing much at all in the way they look or behave. others, like twirl and tweetdeck, take an online service like twitter and make it look vastly differentand arguably better. there are nice interfaces for google reader, google analytics, meebo, pandora, digg, and flickr to be found.

there's also plenty of unique air apps with a specialized focus, among them the air-based media player for video and audio, and the shrink-o-matic for resizing pictures on the fly. you'll probably find a couple of apps in the marketplace that suit your needs, and it's worth installing air, as there will only be more options in the future. check out refreshingapps.com for reviews of air apps.

missing is any kind of interface for adobe's own web apps, photoshop express and buzzword. maybe that's because both use flash so extensively, or perhaps adobe is expecting the developer community to create air apps on its behalf. until that changes, the best way to get those two web apps on your desktop is to use chrome or prism. next: google gears >

Eric narrowly averted a career in food service when he began in tech publishing at Ziff-Davis over 20 years ago. He was on the founding staff of Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine (all defunct, and it's not his fault). He's the author of two novels, BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale"--Publishers' Weekly) and KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. He works from his home in Ithaca, NY.
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